Timing devices exist which are used by law enforcement to measure the rate of speed of a vehicle on a roadway to enforce legal speed limits applicable to traffic. One method employs a pre-measured, marked-off course with a police officer operating a stopwatch or similar timing device to measure the lapsed time between the two pre-measured points when traveled by a vehicle through the course. Once the time is captured, the officer, by converting the timing to miles per hour (mph), determines whether the vehicle has exceeded the speed limit and then responds appropriately by issuing a traffic citation, making an arrest or other appropriate action.
Usually, a reference chart will be prepared if there is no equipment to automatically generate and convert an mph display. Since mph is the parameter set forth in most United States jurisdictions, conversion is necessary since a one-mile course is not a readily observable distance from a single observation point by an individual officer.
One way of accomplishing this conversion is to prepare a chart based on the course pre-measured distance to indicate the number of seconds it takes to travel the measured distance at the legal speed limit. When a vehicle is timed in less than the calculated interval, it has exceeded the allowable speed limit. A chart may be developed whereby a graduated chart indicates the speed which corresponds to one-second intervals up to the minimum number of seconds corresponding to the maximum speed allowed by law. This provides the law enforcement officer with a reference table with which to ascertain the degree of the speed limit violation.
Another method of speed measurement includes electromechanical devices which operate from a pair of pneumatic hoses laid across a traffic lane at pre-measured intervals. The weight of the vehicle passing over the first pneumatic hose generates an instantaneous impulse and a second impulse occurs when passing over the second pneumatic hose. The intervals measured between first and second impulses generate a vehicle speed in miles per hour.
Still yet another method incorporates a radar xe2x80x9cbeamxe2x80x9d which operates by measuring sound waves reflected from a moving vehicle, then displaying the vehicle speed almost instantly. These methods require the officer to carry a separate piece of equipment.
Existing vehicle speed measurement methods must be reliable in order to provide evidentiary support for court proceedings. The better the evidence, the greater the likelihood of a conviction.
Stopwatch methods and electromechanical radar devices are not normally specially equipped for storing data in a retrievable format. Thus, operator, location, date, calibration and various other relevant data must be tabulated and recorded separately for entry later into a central database.
However, many law enforcement organizations have begun to equip their control units with portable computers, or xe2x80x9claptop PCsxe2x80x9d, as they are commonly referred to. Laptop PCs enable police officers to have access to specialized databases for law enforcement only to obtain such information as the driver""s license number, automobile registration number and traffic and other outstanding law enforcement citations. Due to the versatility and capacity of laptop PCs, it would be advantageous to utilize the laptop PCs for collecting and associating traffic speed limit and speed enforcement data. The development of the present invention solves these problems as noted below.
In a computer system having a processor and a memory, the memory connected to the processor and storing computer executable instructions, what is disclosed is a computer-implemented method of measuring and recording vehicle velocity over a pre-measured distance. The method includes the steps of manually inputting a start signal corresponding to a vehicle when the vehicle crosses a line on a pre-measured section of road; measuring the computer system elapsed time commencing at the instant the start button is pushed; upon the vehicle crossing a second line, indicating the end of the pre-measured section of road, manually inputting a stop signal; capturing the elapsed time corresponding to the inputting of the stop signal; calculating the velocity of the vehicle by dividing the premeasured distance by the elapsed time; converting the vehicle velocity to miles per hour; displaying the vehicle velocity information on a computer screen; comparing the vehicle velocity to the buffered speed, which may be the legal speed limit or a value in excess of the legal speed limit; determining if the vehicle velocity exceeds the buffered speed value; and signaling to an operator if the vehicle exceeds the predetermined velocity value.
The method disclosed in the present invention may also comprise the steps of confirming the selection of a location identifier, with associated data indicating the pre-measured distance of the course and applicable legal speed limit at that location. The method also includes confirming the selection of an operator identifier and providing local disk storage means for storing information in a database format. The stored information includes at least operator identifier, location identifier, vehicle velocity, predetermined velocity value and time data.
A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions therein is also disclosed, which, when executed by a computer, perform a method of measuring and recording vehicle velocity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a Microsoft Windows(copyright)-based speed timing and tracking system, for use in a portable computer device, that calculates the velocity of a moving vehicle in miles per hour.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an indication to a law enforcement officer visually and audibly when a vehicle is exceeding the speed limit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to capture vehicle speed time trial statistics for reporting and citation purposes.
A further object of the present invention is to accumulate data related to time trials in a widely used format such as Microsoft Access(copyright) database format.
Another object of the present invention is to provide pre-formatted historical reports as well as user-customized report capability in a back-office system.